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TV shows to watch (and not watch) and dressing up like Reese Witherspoon

Big Little Lies and other shows returning in 2019

*This post is sponsored by Panasonic.

Who doesn’t love Netflix and chill, Amazon Prime and unwind, Now TV and… take it easy? I can’t wait to get a brand new TV for my house – I’ll be having a look the Panasonic Oled Televisions.

Sometimes my two passions (fashion and snuggling on the sofa) come together. I love watching stylish programmes that show off fashion eye-candy, like Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, 90210… And as only re-runs air now, the new show that filled the void in 2017 was the multi award-winning Big Little Lies. If you haven’t watched it yet I implore you to!

Alongside flawless acting, with a show starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz, how could you not expect an impressive exhibition of fashion?

 

Entertaining with great storytelling and visual artistry and speaking meaningfully about the world we inhabit.

TV shows not to miss in 2019

Other TV shows returning in 2019 that I cannot wait for:

  1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Jake Peralta and Captain Holt never fail to make me literally laugh out loud. The world panicked when it was cancelled and wept with joy when it was picked up for season six by another network in the same day. What an emotional rollercoaster.
  2. Game of Thrones: if you’re not watching this epic, where have you been? Just everything about this show will have you on edge (once you’ve got your head around all the characters).
  3. Good Girls: hilarious and gripping, this is a cross between Bridesmaids and Breaking Bad.
  4. Black Mirror: creepier and creepier each season, you don’t want to look, but you can’t look away – whilst also being paranoid that you’re in an alternative universe where someone is watching you

[ If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, then why not check out this post Game of Threads: Fashion behind the thrones or this one on Daenerys’ style (promise you won’t be disappointed – I have photoshopped in a dragon!) ]

What NOT to watch

OMG I tried to watch Netflix’s new show (or bomb) Insatiable. Preparing myself for some black comedy and a harsh reflection on society’s perception of beauty… I was sorely disappointed.

I don’t even recommend this show for the laughs. Because there are none.

It tries so hard to be funny and slick… but it doesn’t succeed. It could’ve been good.

But, a show that uses the line ‘skinny is magic’ in all seriousness without a hint of underlying sarcastic commentary is not a show clever enough to pull off what they’re trying to do.

Don’t worry, it’s not just me who thinks this – it received mostly bad reviews.

Anyway, enough of that rubbish! Let’s move on…

Hannah wears a shirt dress and fluffy green bag

Why you should watch Big Little Lies

  1. Have you not read the list of stars in the show? Alexander Skarsgård. Reese Witherspoon. Alexander Skarsgård. Nicole Kidman and… Alexander Skarsgård.
  2. They touch upon hard topics that need more awareness, for example, domestic abuse.
  3. It’s multi award-winning – too many awards to count!
  4. The wardrobes!
  5. Beautiful music.
  6. Beautiful scenery.
  7. A look into frienships and relationships.
  8. Tough reflection on society and its obsession with perfection and image.

Big Little Lies: New Wardrobe Envy

I love Reese’s character in Big Little Lies, Madeline Martha Mackenzie. She’s firey, takes control, loyal, will do anything for her friends and sometimes fucks up but isn’t afraid to admit it.

Her style is very clean and put-together and always feminine. I noticed that she is a lover of a Dolce & Gabbana dress too – a designer which I have just posted about (wink wink).

In the season one finale, the women all dress like Audrey Hepburn characters for a party (as you do) and Madeline dresses as Holly Golightly in her pjs.

You know we’re all about that pjs-as-outerwear trend, so I’m totally stealing that Reese-as-Madeline-as-Audrey-as-Holly look! (Wow it’s fashion inception)

This look cost me like £9! lol

Hannah wears pink tassel earringsHannah wears shirt dress, fluffy green bag and headband

 

Bruises heal, stigmas can last a lifetime.

– Madeline Martha Mackenzie

The costume department may have dressed Reese in an oversized Céline shirt, but, I went one better and got this beautiful from Asos for a toal of £3, once I used my student discount and my £15 Asos rewards voucher – #winning.

I decided not to go full-on with an eye mask, like Reese’s, (fun fact: the costume designer bought the actual one worn on the show !) but in stead, I took it as inspiration and went for something more wearable like a twisted head-wrap.

I got this one from , random, as I have not set foot in that shop since I was 12, but heads up – if you need a handband they have loooooads of choice in there! They’re perfect for keeping hair off your face on holiday!

Earrings: Ebay | Dress: | Bag: | Shoes: Asos | Headwrap:

“Sometimes I’m just holding onto this idea of perfection so tight, something has to give.”

Top tip: get costume earrings from eBay!

These cost around £3 (you know Zara be charging £15), they came the next day and the quality is pretty good so far!

Madeline is often seen in feminine floral A-line dresses with a little cardigan. Definitely stuff I wear on holiday. Probably all the time if I lived by the beach like her…

Reese Witherspoon on set of Big Little LIes wearing a floral dress

This Jack Wills piece gets the vibe of Madeline’s dress here quite well and I think it will be good to transition from Summer into Autumn. They also have a more casual cami version 😉

By the way, shout out to all the Instagram boyfriends out there – thank you Daniel for your photography and willingness to follow me to various places and hold up a blanket whilst I change in a park!

Earrings: Ebay | Dress: Jack Wills | Bag: Fendi | Shoes: Asos

 

You can go fuck yourself on the head.

– Madeline Martha Mackenzie

I hope you enjoyed this. What do you think of my attempt at Madeline’s look? Let me know in the comments if you watched or are going to watch any of the TV shows I mentioned in the comments and if you have any recommendations!

In this post for Madeline’s look:

Earrings: Ebay | Dress: | Bag: | Shoes: Asos | Headwrap: 

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Is Snapchat dead?

Did Kylie Jenner just kill Snapchat or was it already a sinking ship?

Snapchat boomed out of nowhere. Now, it’s an advertising platform for multi-million-pound companies; a far cry from being known as ‘that shady app’ for people sent ‘those kind of photos’ that conveniently disappeared.

It seems that Kylie Jenner killed Snapchat overnight with her tweet:

Kylie Jenner's tweet: 'sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad.'

A tweet that cost Snapchat ONE BILLION DOLLARS.

However, it’s probably a little more complicated than that. Snapchat was being beaten to the floor and Kylie’s just delivered the final blow.

I just have the image of Scar and Mufusa (RIP) at the edge of that cliff. Here’s the metaphor:
Mufusa = Snapchat. Kylie = Scar. Cliff = shit tonne of money.

Image of Kylie Jenner's face photoshopped onto Scar from the Lion King and the Snapchat ghost photoshopped onto Mufusa, hanging from a cliff.

This is the worst photoshop ever. But I wanted to bring the vision to life. (Rights belong to Disney)

Following this episode, they made a very distasteful joke about Rihanna’s domestic abuse at the hands of Chris Brown. This led to a lot of angry Rihanna fans, and well most people on Snapchat, leading to further damage to their bank account ($800 Million).

There were a few bumps in the road before this. Snapchat was growing fast and making so much money, that perhaps these blips weren’t taken seriously.

Here is the timeline of Snapchat’s ups and downs:

2011
Snapchat launches

Everyone’s like: ‘hey I’m on Snapchat, add me!’ and then you’re like: ‘WTF is Snapchat’
Everyone: ‘It’s this thing where you send a photo to someone; it lasts for 10 seconds and then it disappears’
You: ‘So, it’s for sending dodgy pics that you don’t want other people to save to their camera roll’.
Everyone: ‘Uhhh… I guess’.

2012
Funding

Major funding goes on. They raise $10million and then value the company at $70million.
One of the funders of Instagram also invests.

October 2013
Stories

Snapchat launches the famous ‘snap stories’ function, which was an instant success.

November 2013
Snapchat pisses off Facebook

Facebook tries to buy Snapchat for $3billion. To which they declined. This probably turned Facebook’s friendly competition into: “I WILL END YOU”.
That’s what I took from it, but both companies declined to make a statement, so that’s PR talk for ‘i f*ckin h8 u now’.

2014
Hacked

Snapchat is hacked to send people spam pictures of fruit smoothies.

(Not that important. Highlights security problems, but I included this part mainly because this the nicest sort of spam you could receive).

2014
Snapchat gets in trouble

Snapchat broke the terms of the Federal Trade Commission. If you’re a blogger or in advertising, then you’ll be aware of how hot they are on their rules. Basically, Snapchat made out to the public that photos would not be saved and would disappear, when, in fact, that wasn’t the case and actually they were stored on a cloud somewhere.

2016
Snap’s estimated market value climbs to $25–35 billion.

August 2016
Facebook goes head-to-head

Facebook updates Instagram to include Instagram ‘stories’. Like… Ohhhh no you di’n’t!’
The is one of the worst things that has actually happened to Snapchat.
Snapchat growth slowed 82% after Instagram Stories launched and a lot of its audience was lost to Instagram.

March 2017

Snap Inc. goes on the NY Stock Exchange, selling 200 million, priced at $17 per share, for a total of $3.4 billion

June 2017
Snapchat are worried

Downloads drop by 22% and Snap’s share price falls in one week from $27 a share back down to its IPO* of $17… In other words ‘oh snap’ (pun intended).

August 2017
One year on since Instagram copies stories

Snap’s stats are crap.
Snapchat’s monthly active user rate down from 17.2% to 5%
Snapchat’s Stories users halts at 166 million daily users, whereas Instagram now has 250 million.

“Facebook and Instagram didn’t have to outdo Snapchat. They just needed to copy it and put it in a more convenient place in apps that people of all ages already use.”

Instagram Stories turns 1 as daily use surpasses Snapchat

January 2018
People hate Snapchat

Snapchat’s big redesign bashed in 83% of user reviews (*2.)

February 2018
Kylie’s tweet

One simple tweet from a reality person wiped $1billion of Snap’s stock market value.

March 2018
Rihanna vs. Snapchat

A ‘thrid party ad’ – put in airmarks, because Snapchat may be trying to place blame on someone else – slipped through their approval process and the ‘joke’ fell flat. It was a game of ‘would you rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown?’. This alludes to the domestic abuse that Rihanna suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend and massive douchebag Chris Brown.

The result? Snapchat loses $800 million

Snapchat stocks plunged by 4 percent on Thursday, losing the app nearly a billion dollars this week—evidently due to Rihanna fans who decided to delete the platform from their smartphones.

‘Snapchat Lost $800 Million After Rihanna Criticized Its Offensive Ad’

So what’s going to happen?
Predictions

I don’t have a crystal ball, but it’s not looking great for the app, although I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of Snapchat. Now there are a lot of investors and companies relying on the app to make big money, so they won’t let it die so easily. It may be the case that Snapchat stops growing and gradually users begin to become inactive over a period of a couple of years, as advertisers stop paying.

The developers will do all they can to claw back their reputation and the users. I think it could be heading for a MySpace funeral. A site that was once visited MORE THAN GOOGLE, MySpace is now probably only visited by people looking up their old profile to have a laugh at photos from year 7. To fill you in, MySpace lost its users as soon as new owners began to monetise it. This is exactly what everyone is getting annoyed with on Snapchat.

What I think Snapchat might try next

Live videos

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even YouTube all have live video facilities. To compete and stay relevant, Snapchat may end up doing the same. Well, they’ll need to do the same. They dabbled with broadcasting the Winter Olympics in February, however, have no plans to let users launch their own live videos. Missing a trick there.

Influencer Marketing

They’ve had a lot of bad press from some of the biggest names in celebrity culture, so maybe to counteract it, maybe they’ll try some proactive positive PR by using celebrities to promote it, to counteract the negative from Kylie and Rihanna.

Make advertising easier for brands

Digital marketing research showed that “brands and media buyers believe Snapchat is the hardest platform to advertise on” over Facebook, Twitter, Google and Amazon. It’s also one of the most difficult to gauge Return On Investment. If Snapchat is to survive, they need to stay competitive with Facebook – where marketers put most of their marketing budget – so, Snapchat need to lure back their advertisers, so they can keep their investors happy and retain profit.

Snapchat will most likely have a few more tricks up its sleeves before it disappears. What do you think will happen to Snapchat?

Do you think Snapchat has had its day? Or do you think it will ride out the rough patch and survive?

Sources

1. Twitter

2. Tech Crunch

3. Forbes

4. Vanity Fair

5. Digiday

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Why perfume will always stand the test of time

The power of perfume

*This post is sponsored by Clive Christian.

Next to flowers, perfume is at the top of the gift list for Valentine’s Day. Why? A perfume can evoke feelings and it can be a symbol of love. Scent is powerful: from its rich history to the way it can evoke emotions and memories. This list of Valentine’s gifts for Him and Her include the very same perfume that Prince William and Kate received for their wedding day. What a romantic gift for a special someone… (or yourself!)

The power of perfume means our love affair for fragrances is going nowhere.

Here’s why:

A royal history of fragrance

Ever since civilisation, perfume has existed. Perfume is an ancient ritual, which goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt, much like the beloved red lipstick. Scientists believe that frankincense was most likely used for Pharoahs’ perfumes, which was understood to be a scent of the Gods. Perfume with expensive and exotic ingredients was a symbol of status.

King Tut (King Tutankhamun Exhibit - Cosmetic Jar with a Recumbent Lion on the Lid)

Ancient Egyptian Cosmetic Jar on display at the King Tut Exhibition.

In 1872 during the reign of Queen Victoria in Britain, The Crown Perfumery was established; this would later become Clive Christian. Queen Victoria was so impressed with the perfumery that she granted permission to use the image of her crown for the crystal bottle-stoppers – a honour which still endures today.

“In ode to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who made perfumes for each other as a symbol of their enduring love, many Clive Christian perfumes are created in matching pairs…”

Telegraph

It seems the Christian Clive tradition was passed down to another royal couple…

For His Royal Highness Prince William and Catherine Middleton in honor of their union, Christian Clive was commissioned to create this bespoke presentation of his No.1 perfume. Complete with their initals and diamonds, of course.

The bespoke perfume bottles presented to Catherine and Prince William on their wedding day. The his and hers matched pair of Clive Christian No. 1 Perfumes with gold etched initials for Catherine and William. The perfume bottles are hand-cut crystal with a brilliant-cut diamond solitaire embedded in them. A “C” is etched in gold on the women’s, and a “W” on the men’s—a gift fit for a royal pair.

The bespoke perfume bottles presented to Catherine and Prince William on their wedding day.

How fragrances affect us

It’s well-known that there are strong links between smell and memory. Certain scents can actually affect our physical well-being too.

75% of all emotions generated every day are due to smell, and because of this, we are 100 times more likely to remember something we smell over something we see, hear or touch.”

Scent Research

I like to use a perfume for the first time when I travel to a new place. This is because whenever I smell that fragrance again the next time, I’ll immediately be transported back to that place. There’s a particular fragrance that I only wore whilst living in Madrid and now, when I catch the same scent, I vividly remember walking down Gran Vía.

Why we like some fragrances more than others

Research suggests that our perfume preferences are subconciously based on smells that bring us happy memories. Whether we realise it or not.

“We only learn to think of smells as ‘good’ by associating them with good feelings”. So, liking a scent partly comes down to good memories associated with it.

The other deciding factors as to whether you like a fragrance:

1. Familiarity:

If someone in your family wore a orange-based fragrance, you will be more partial to citrus scents.

2. What your body needs:

If you’re body’s in need of something, you’ll be attracted to a scent that can help. For example, if you’re feeling a bit tense, you’ll be drawn to vanilla which helps you to relax (more on this here).

3. The nature of your personality

Psychologists can tell what your favourite fragrance says about you.

If you’re a night owl, you probably favour oriental notes; outgoing and experimental people will like fruity notes; floral fans tend to feminine, friendly and outdoorsy.

Fun Fragrance Fact

Monkeys use perfume too!

Scientists have found some monkeys, such as the Mexican spider monkey, mix their saliva with crushed leaves to use as a perfume! They may apply this concoction to themselves every two hours in a day.
The aromatic plants they use are: the Alamos pea tree, which has fragrant leaves and flowers, a flowering trumpet tree, and wild celery.


Outstanding perfume creations are forever.

-Clive Christian

Perfume will always stand the test of time

Applying a fragrance becomes habit for many of us. It tells others who we are. Perfume has the power to lift our spirts and bring back fond memories. From ancient civilisations to modern day, perfume has always meant something more to us. The industry continues to grow year-on-year and has no signs of slowing down. I think this is because perfume is more than just a pretty glass bottle that sits on your dressing table.

Is perfume important to you? Leave a comment below!

Articles quoted:

What makes Clive Christian so exclusive

Monkeys use perfume

What perfumes did Ancient Egyptians use?

Scent research

15 things you didn’t know about fragrance

What makes us like or dislike a fragrance?

So THAT’S Why You’re So Attached to Certain Perfumes

What your favourite fragrance says about you

Clive Christian: The scent of royalty

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Five Fashion Fails: Lawsuits filed against fakes

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Real sues the fakes

It’s nothing new that the high-street takes inspiration from luxury designer houses. But when they go too far, the fakes can be sure there’s a copyright violation lawsuit coming after them for a BIG sum of money…

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What would Daenerys wear?

Style Inspiration: Daenerys Targaryen

Unless you’ve been living under a (Casterly) rock, you’ll know that season seven of Game of Thrones is in full swing! …Even if you don’t watch it.

I’ve already written one post on GoT, but, the force of nature that is Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, deserved her own post.

Dany’s style is forever evolving along with her character, much like Sansa’s, and as we all know, WINTER IS COMING so her costumes are getting darker as she prepares for war.

Let’s get to the part where I dress up 😉 I thought it would be fun to interpret Dany’s style if she were to live and breathe and walk through fire in our realm in 2017 (you know, if she wasn’t fictional) and I feel this gunmetal foil jumpsuit would be the kind of thing she’d wear.

*Disclaimer* This has not been photoshopped; that wild dragon happened to be there.

Jumpsuit: Topshop (colour out of stock) same jumpsuit in grey | Earring: Amazon | Necklace: Topshop (Out of stock) similar | Boots: Topshop

Although I don’t think she would pop into Topshop to try on outfits, cos for sure I think she would resurrect Alexander McQueen to custom-make her clothes from 24k gold spun silk and lizard skin, Topshop was the next best thing.

After all, she is Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, first of her name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men (claimant), Protector of the Realm (claimant), Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons, The Unburnt, Breaker of Chains, Princess of Dragonstone… and all round feminist badass. Whew, that’s so long. Hands up if you just glanced over that part. I feel a meme is appropriate here:

10 Daenerys costume facts

  1. It took two and a half months and seven wigs to find the perfect tone of that ‘Daenerys silver-white’ hair. In my look, I put a few of her signature plaits in my hair.
  2. Sticking with the theme of hair, in the book when Dany emerges from the flames, her hair is completely burnt off. So, if the show had followed the books, she would’ve been bald for at least a season before her hair grew back!
  3. As blue’s a Dothraki colour, Dany wore a lot of blue dresses in season four, as a sign of respect and mourning for her late husband Khal Drogo.
  4. However, the following season sees her wearing white and pale colours as she asserts her authority. In the episode “The Dance of Dragons“, Dany wears white to show her neutrality as gladiators take to the fighting pit to battle to the death. Michele Clapton, GoT costume designer said:

    “Now she’s got this sense of power and also a sense of immortality. […] I wanted to give this rather untouchable quality to her. The idea behind the white and pale grey is the sense of removal, a removal from reality”.

    Michele Clapton

  5. Not a little-known fact, but for those who don’t know, Dany’s eyes should be purple. They tried filming the first episodes with Emilia Clarke wearing lilac contact lenses, but they were too uncomfortable, so they decided to film without.
  6. Dany’s armour-like dragon necklace, which she wore in the scene I referred to in no.4, was commissioned by a London jewellery maker Yunus & ElizaI drew Daenerys in this necklace which I added below 🙂
  7. …and YOU CAN ACTUALLY BUY THE ACTUAL JEWELLERY! (It’s pricey though).
  8. Dany always wears trousers and boots underneath her dresses, no matter how extravagant the dress. That’s why I chose to go with a jumpsuit for this look. It’s the best of a dress and trousers; the silhouette remains feminine, but is still more practical than a dress, whereas the boots toughen it up a bit.

    “There’s always a fear in her that she will have to leave so it gives her the freedom to always escape and run. If she had silly shoes on she’d lose all her strength.”

  9. In this new season, Daenerys is leaving her blues and whites behind and going for the dark colours like steel, charcoal and burgundy. After all, her house colours are red and black and she’s here to claim the throne in the name of House Targaryen. I love this necklace that I paired with the silver jumpsuit: with its layered silver chains and purple stone that looks like it could be a dragon claw, its the perfect touch to finish this outfit.

    Now you do finally start seeing [red] creeping in through the scaling and embroidery on her dresses. It’s just a touch. And she now has this fantastic new chain we’ve created. I didn’t want her to have a crown, I wanted her to have a chain.

  10. Gone are the floaty gowns in season seven. She’s going to a colder climate, so she’ll be more covered up and now that’s she’s a conquerer, her outfits are more structured and sharp to reflect that. Ironically, we see Dany’s outfit looking very reminiscent of her sadistic brother’s in season one – perhaps Viserys’ costume actually foreshadowed Daenerys’ success?

    Dany’s setting foot on the shores of her homeland and preparing to reclaim her birthright which means she needs an outfit that reflects her position of power.

    “She’s this figurehead of her army,” Clapton says. “I wanted her to be able to stand in front of the Unsullied and be their leader.”

    Michele Clapton

I hope you enjoyed this post!
If you think I’m a bit of a nerd after reading this, then you’re right! 😛 Let me know what you think of my interpretation of Daenerys’ season seven outfit in the comments ♥

Products in this post

Related products

My drawing of Daenerys for my bestie!

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Game of Threads: the fashion behind the Thrones

Game of Thrones: what are the secrets behind the show’s fashion?

The most successful and expensive show of all time needs no introduction. HBO’s Game of Thrones returns to our screens on 16 July and I CANNOT wait! What better time to delve into the world of the Seven Kingdoms and its fashion?!

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